Hackintosh

A Hackintosh is a type of non-Apple computer designed to run unauthorised versions of macOS. The name is a portmanteau of the words "hack" and Macintosh, the brand name of laptop and desktop computers made by Apple, Inc. Hackintosh laptops are sometimes referred to as Hackbooks.

Apple's software license for macOS only permits the software's use on computers that are "Apple-branded." However, because modern Macintosh computers use Intel-based hardware, there are few limitations keeping the software from running on other types of Intel-based PCs. Notably, companies such as Psystar have attempted to release products using macOS on non-Apple machines, though many Hackintosh systems are designed solely by macOS enthusiasts of various hacking forums and communities. While the methods Apple uses to prevent macOS from being installed on non-Apple hardware are protected from commercial circumvention in the United States by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), specific changes to the law regarding the concept of jailbreaking have placed circumvention methods like these into a legal grey area.

See also

• Macintosh clone - About clones and emulators of various Macintosh models
• List of computer system emulators - a list of Macintosh and other computer system emulators
• Apple's transition to Intel processors
• Star Trek project